Southern Research Station

Title: The development of a decision support system for prioritizing forested wetland restoration areeas in the lower Yazoo River Basin, Mississippi

Author: Davis, Anegla A.; Kleiss, Barbara A.; O'Hara, Charles G.; Derby, Jennifer S.

Date: 2000

Source: In: Proceedings of a Conference on Sustainability of Wetlands and Water Resources, May 23-25, Oxford, Mississippi, eds. Holland, Marjorie M.; Warren, Melvin L.; Stanturf, John A., p. 47-56

Description: The Eco-Assessor, a GIS-based decision-support system, has been developed for the lower part of the Yazoo River Basin, Mississippi, to help planners and managers determine the best locations for the restoration of wetlands based on defined ecological and geographic criteria and probability of success. To assess the functional characteristics of the potential restoration areas, the data layers are organized by hydrology, water quality, and habitat. The overall potential restorability, or the predicted physical ability of a tract of land to sustain a functional wetland, is also considered. Because an exact spatial representation of wetlands in the lower Yazoo River Basin does not exist, surrogate data layers are used to predict locations that might be restored to a functional wetland. The Eco-Assessor analyzes the following data layers by using a ranking system: geomorphology, soils, mature forest cover, farmed wetlands, flood frequency, topographic depressions, River Reach File Level 3 streams, wildlife management areas, conservation areas, primary roads, secondary roads, permanent water, and landscape factors. Various categories of each data layer are assigned a rank. A higher rank indicates that a particular geographic area has a higher probability of being restored to a functional wetland. Ranks for all the data layers are summed to result in a cumulative rank which can then be used to determine the areas that, overall, are the most likely to be successfully restored to a functional wetland. The ranking system method provides a means to analyze various restoration scenarios. A restoration scenario can be defined in a way that may focus equally on all functions, focus on one function, or focus on a particular geographic area.

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Citation

Davis, Anegla A.; Kleiss, Barbara A.; O'Hara, Charles G.; Derby, Jennifer S.  2000.  The development of a decision support system for prioritizing forested wetland restoration areeas in the lower Yazoo River Basin, Mississippi.   In: Proceedings of a Conference on Sustainability of Wetlands and Water Resources, May 23-25, Oxford, Mississippi, eds. Holland, Marjorie M.; Warren, Melvin L.; Stanturf, John A., p. 47-56